But after the Big 12 finally sorted out its bowl lineup today following some last-minute maneuvering, Iowa State, the team that cost Oklahoma State a chance to play for the national championship because of its Nov. 19 upset of the Cowboys, wound up as Rutgers’ opponent.

That matchup became official tonight, after the lingering uncertainty over the Knights’ potential opponent prompted Rutgers to cancel a bowl news conference that had been scheduled for 4:30 this afternoon. It will take place Monday instead.

“It is a terrific situation when you can play your bowl game in the greatest city in the world,” Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said in a statement. “Getting an opportunity to play in a bowl game hosted by the New York Yankees is a great reward for our players.”

While the schools have never met, they aren’t exactly unfamiliar with each other.

Both played at Connecticut this year, with the Cyclones winning 24-20. Rutgers was a 40-22 loser to the Huskies, a defeat that denied the Knights a share of the program’s first Big East title.

And Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads, who guided the Cyclones to a 6-6 record in his third year this season, knows plenty about Rutgers. He served as Pittsburgh’s defensive coordinator from 2000-07 before becoming the defensive coordinator at Auburn in 2008. He has been Iowa State’s head coach since then.

For Rutgers, which defied a last-place prediction in the preseason Big East preseason poll by going 8-4, the bowl appearance will be the sixth in the past seven years and the seventh overall in school history.

The Scarlet Knights will be making their second appearance at Yankee Stadium in seven weeks, too, having recorded a 27-12 victory there over Army on Nov. 12.

Iowa State, meanwhile, recorded the biggest victory in school history on Nov. 19, a 37-31 double overtime upset of then-No. 2 Oklahoma State that ultimately cost the Cowboys a spot in the BCS national championship game.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Jared Barnett, a dual threat, passed for 376 yards and three TDs to rally the Cyclones from a 24-7 deficit to their first victory over a top 5 opponent in school history.

Iowa State had been 0-56-2 against teams ranked in the top six of the AP Poll prior to that.

After starting 3-0, the Cyclones struggled by going 3-6 the rest of the way, all against Big 12 competition. Iowa State ended its season with a 30-23 loss at Kansas State on Saturday.

Iowa State doesn’t have a player from the Northeast on its roster, though Rutgers does have one from Iowa – injured center Dallas Hendrikson, from St. Ansgar, Iowa.